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SVM Editorial Board Roundtable: The NFL season started Thursday night and kicks off in earnest Sunday. What’s your favorite team, and how do you think they’ll do this year?

By members of the Sauk Valley Media Editorial Board

Sept. 6, 2018

The National Football League season started with one game Thursday night and kicks off in earnest Sunday. What’s your favorite team, and how do you think they’ll do this year?

Question of the week: The National Football League season started with one game Thursday night and kicks off in earnest Sunday. What’s your favorite team, and how do you think they’ll do this year?

Jeff Rogers, SVM editor

My earliest memory of my Chicago Bears fandom was having a Bears garbage can in my room when I was a young boy.

The Bears were garbage then (Jack Concannon was the starting QB, so ...) and they have been garbage lately. But I think that's going to end this season!

For the first time since Lovie Smith was fired (which I agreed with, by the way), the Bears appear to actually have a solid head coach and coaching staff. Matt Nagy is unproven as a first-year coach, but he has the pedigree of being mentored by Andy Reid and seems to have the "it" factor most successful coaches have.

With the steal of a trade the Bears pulled off last weekend to get Pro Bowl linebacker Khalil Mack from the Raiders, the defense now has a premier pass rusher to go with an already strong roster. The Bears' defense should be one of the strongest in the league.

Off-season acquisitions provided the offense with weapons at the wide receiver and tight end positions that they haven't had in recent seasons. And 2017 first-round draft pick QB Mitchell Trubisky, while also unproven, should benefit significantly from the improvements around him.

Do I think the Bears are a playoff team in 2018? Probably not. The NFC North is the best division in football on paper, with the Vikings and Packers two of the best teams in the conference and the Lions not far behind. But I think an 8-8 record is realistic, with a 9-7 or 10-6 possible, which would put the Bears at least in contention for a postseason spot.

I'm ready for some football!

Peter Shaw, Shaw Media trustee, corporate strategy coordinator

I wouldn’t say I’m drowning in Chicago Bears Kool-Aid, but ever since the Khalil Mack trade last week, I took off the water wings and have been swimming in the stuff!

Look, this season should still be a tough year for a young team under first-time head coach Matt Nagy, but it will be better than the past several years, and is at least purposefully building toward something good.

Regardless of how this season goes, GM Ryan Pace did his best Santa impersonation for my off-season wish list: 1) New, young, offensive-minded coach; 2) Kept Vic Fangio as the defensive guru; 3) Completely overhauled the wide receiver corps, and added Trey Burton; 4) Drafted a first-round defensive stud; and 5) Traded for arguably the top edge rusher in the NFL.

Yeah, I never even dreamt of that one, and still can’t believe it happened. Bear down!

Ryan Pace, the team's general manager, went out and got that team right this off-season.

Hired a dynamic, young, first-time coach. Signed stellar wide receiver Allen Robinson. Added other offensive weapons in Trey Burton and Taylor Gabriel. Drafted Roquan Smith, one of the most complete college football players in the draft. Locked up cornerback Kyle Fuller with a 4-year deal. Drafted two studs, Anthony Miller and James Daniels (from my Iowa Hawkeyes, baby!) in the second round.

I've been pumped since March, people. I am a giant-meatball-of-a-fan.

And then, Pace drops an absolute bomb Saturday, trading for the standout outside linebacker Khalil Mack, one of the best players in the NFL. He also made him the highest paid defensive player in the history of the league with a 6-year extension.

All this before the Bears stroll into Green Bay for a Sunday night game on national television?